Try telling Barbary Day Turner about the economic crisis, writes Richard Scheinin in Thursday’s (2/19) San Jose Mercury News (California). “The founder and music director of the San Jose Chamber Orchestra has just announced her group’s 2009-10 season, and it’s larger than the last one. ‘We’re going to try this and see what happens,’ she says. The orchestra’s 19th season features nine performances, two more than the current season. It kicks off Aug. 29-30 at Le Petit Trianon with two nights featuring a popular top-tier piano soloist—Jon Nakamatsu—and closes in May 2010 with two pairing the orchestra with an exceptional jazz soloist, the young pianist Taylor Eigsti.” Day Turner hopes that by expanding beyond the orchestra’s traditional Sunday-night performance structure they can access a new audience. “The orchestra has seen a slight bump in private donations in recent months. (Go figure.) And Day Turner has managed to decrease next season’s operating budget to $247,000 from this season’s $259,000. The current budget was puffed up by the cost of a recording project, she explains.”
